Horseless vehicle.



No. 783,114. PATENTED PEB. 21, 1905. P. FLUGKS.

HORSELESS VEHIGLE.

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No. 783,114. PATEN'TED FEB. 21, 1905. P. FLUGKS.

HORSELESS VBHICLE.

APPLIOATION PILED AUG. 12,1904.

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No. 783,114. PATENTED FEB. 21, 1905.

P. PLUGKS.

HORSELBSS VEHIGLE.

APPLIOATION FILED AUG.12,1904.

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Ummah STATES Patented February 21, 1905.

PAUL FLUCKS, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

HORSELESS VEHICLE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 783,114, dated February 21, 1905.,

l Application filed August 12, 1904. Serial No. 220,544.

To aJZZ whom ?lt may concern.-

Be it known that I, PAUL FLUoKs, a citizen of the United States, residing at St. Louis, State of Missourhhave invented certain new and useful Improvements in Horseless Vehicles, of i which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forning a par't hereof.

My invention has relation to improvements in horseless carriages or motor-Vehicles; and it consists in the novel arrangement and combination of parts more fully set forth in the specification and pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a carriage with myimprovernent attached thereto. Fig. 2 is a top plan of the rear end, the carriage-body being removed. Fig. 3 is a vertical section on the broken line 3 3 of Fig. 4:. Fig. 4: is a vertical transverse section on the broken line 4: 4 of Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a sectional detail on the line 5 5 of Fig. 4:, showing the construction of the disk valve and its casing and the bases of the motor-fiuidinjecting pipes. Fig. 6 is an end view of the valve detached, and Fig. 7 is an elevation of the valve.

The present invention is an improvement on the construction of horseless carriage covered by Letters Patent issued to me September 7, 1897, and numbered 589,710, and while possessing all the advantages and fulfilling the several purposes of the patented construction the present device contenplates material iniprovements over said prior construction, having for its Object the increase in the efficiency of the driving power, the simplification of the mechanical detailsot the motor, the reduction in the percentage of exhaust, the lessening in the noise incident to its escape, and possessing further and other advantages better apparent from a detailed description of the invention;

which is as follows:

Referring to the drawings, 1 1 represent the driving-wheels, and 2 2 the Steeringwheels, of the carriage, the latter being of any approved design of automobile. Located between the driving-wheels and surrounding the rear axle 3 is the motor storage-reservoir 4, capable of holding air under pressure. represents the body of the carriage, and S the Springs. Diametrically opposite one another and leading from each end of the reservoir 4 are feed-pipes 5 5, which convey the motor fluid through the walls of the valve-casing 6 to the annular peripheral groove7 of the disk valve 8, freely rotatable about the'hub 9 of the inner stationary cover-plate or disk 10, (of the motor,) mounted on the square or polygonal portion of the axle 3, the valve being held in place by the annular plate 11, secured to the valve-casing` which, by the way, is formed integrally with said coVer-plate, Fig. 4. Leading from the groove 7 and disposed parallel to the axis of rotation of the valve 8 are aseries (four in numberin the present case of peripheral recesses or ports 12, which for certain positions of the valve register with the radially-disposed ports 13 of the valve-casing,

said ports 13 being in perxnanent communication with the motor-fiuid-injecting pipes p p', disposed radially in pairs, the discharge end or mouth of each pipe delive'ring the fluid against the blades b, pro jecting from the adjacent face of the movable section ordisk 10' of the motor, said disk 10' being coupled to the wheel 1 and freely rotatable about the spindle 3 of the axle 3, Fig. 4. As seen in the drawings, the peripheral wall or fiange of the disk 10`overlaps the blades 7), Fig. 4, said wall having formed thereon around the months of the pipes p p a pocket 14, overla'ming a space on each side of any blade, Fig. 3. As seen from the drawings, the delivery end of each pipe j) p penetrates the wall of a pocket 14: and is directed so as to inject the fluid against the blade inwardly and at an angle to the tangent of the outer circle of the motor-walls. The fiuid while thus directed against any particular blade at the same time fills the pocket 14:; but as the latter extends over at least two spaces formed between three consecutive blades it followsthat not only will the disk 10' receive its impetus or motion from the impact of the fluid impinging immediately from the mouth of the pipe p p', but said fluiddifiusing itself within the pocket will supplement the driving power of the stream or jet issuing' from said pipe by acting against the blades on either side of the blade immediately acted on by the jet from the pipe. This is Obvious IOO 'from Fig. 3, where the three sets of arrows in the upperleft-hand pocketshow this result.

The pipes p are employed in driving tle carriage forward and the pipes p' backward, the Valve 8 being rocked to deliver the motor fluid to one set of pipes or the other, according to circumstances. When rocked to the position indicated in Fig. 5, the recesses 12 are in communication with the ports 13, leading to the pipes p, and when rocked to the dotted position in said figure the pipes p' will be in communication and the pipes p will be cut off. So it' the valve be rocked to an intermediate position both sets of pipes will be cut off and the carriage come to a standstill. The rocking of the valve is aecomplished by the following mechanism: The projecting hub 8 of the valve has secured thereto an arm 15,

' from which extend forwardly the lateral members of the U-shaped frame 16. From the base of the latter extends forwardly a link 17, whose forward end is pivotally coupled to a vertically-oscillatinglever 18, controlled by a sping-pawl 19, adapted to be locked against the toothecl segment 20. Such contrivances are old and well known and need not here be dwelt upon in detail.

It is essential, as well as desirable, that the present motor be noiseless, as well as being capableof utilizing the motor fluid toits maximum efficieney. For this purpose the exhaust fluid is caused to traverse a circuitous passage, without, however, offering any material resistance to thelive fluid. From that end of the poclet 14 from which the bladesbleave in their respective rotations the spent fluid finds its way through the eXhaust-port 21, formed in the inner flange 22, (between which and the outer peripheral wall of the disk 10 the blades b revolve,) the spent fluid traversing the compound eXhaust-passage 23 23', formed between suitable rib formations on the disk 10, the fluid finally impinging against the butferwings 24, formed on the annular disk 25, screwed to the flange 22 and inner fiange 26, formed with the disk 10, Fig. 4:. The wings then defi ect the fluid into the eXhaust-chamber 27, whence it escapes through the exhaustnozzle 28. By the time it leaves the nozzle 28 the 't'orce of the fluid has been 'fully spent and expanded to a point where little or no noise accompanies the discharge.

From the 'o'egoing it will be seen that the point of exhaust is interior to the point of impact of the live fluid against the revolving piston 10 of the motor. The actuating-jet is directed inwardly against the blades instead of outwardly, as in the patented construction aforesaid. The direct impact of the jet issuing from the injecting-pipes flp' is Supplemented by the reactionary force of the fluid in the pocket 14 against the adjacent blades.

' The exhaust takes place until after the force of the fluid is spent. The exhaust tak es a circuitous route, so as to finally discharge atthe lowest possible pressure, being attended with a minimum amount of noise. Thus the advantages enumerated at the beginning of the present specification are apparent from the description. The operation having been incorporated in the description is not reiterated at this point, the same being Obvious. The reservoir 4, while preferably intended for compressed air, may be used as a boiler for storing steam or compressed gas of any description, it being understood that I do not limit the application of thepresent invention to compressed air. The details of construction here shown may, too, be departed from without affecting the nature or spirit of my invention.

It will be observed that the eXha-ust-passages 23 23' are extended in a direction opposite to the general direction of impact of the live fluid, so that a retardation of the spent fluid results more etfectively than would be the case were such passages a continuation of such general direction. As seen in Fig. 4, the blades b travel in an annular chamber formed between the outer peripheral wall or fiange of the stationary disk 10 and the intermediate fiange 22. This annular chamber may for convenience be termed the cylinder or easing, and the disk 10 with its blades b, may' be termed the rotary piston. The exhaust passages and ports are thus located within the inner circle of the annular cylinder, the motor fiuid being delivered into the cylinder through its outer peripheral wall and traveling toward the center of the Wheel instead of flowing outwardly from the center, as in my patent aforesaid.

Having described my invention, what I claim is- 1. In a horseless carriage, a suitable carriage-body, a reservoir mounted in connection with the same, a motor comprising a stationary section or cylinder mounted on the carriage-body adjacent to the Wheel thereof, arotary piston carrying blades coupled to the wheel, a valve-easing carried by the stationary section, 'feed-pipes leading from the reservoir to the ValVe-easing, a rotary valve mounted in the casing and capable of operation from without, a series of injecting-pipes leading from the casing through the peripheral wall of the stationary section and having their discharge ends directed against the blades toward the axis of the wheel, and suitable ports formed in the valve for controlling the fiuid, substantially as set forth.

2. In a hor seless carriage, a reservoir containing fluid under pressure, a motor comp'rising a stationary section carried by the carriage -body, a rotary piston carrying blades, coupled to the wheel, a valve rotatable about the axis of the wheels, a valve-casing therefor in communication with the interior of the reservoir, conduits leading from the valve-casing through the peripheral walls IOO of the stationary section, blades formed on the rotating section of the motor, pockets formed in the wall of the stationary section around the discharge ends of the conduits aforesaid and spanning the spaces formed between a series of the blades, and ports in the valve for controlling the admission of the fluid into the motor, substantially as set forth.

3. In a horseless carriage, a reservoir containing fluid under pressure, a motor comprising a rotatable section provided with blades coupled to the Wheel, and a stationary section or cylinder carried by the body of the Vehicle, a valve-casing formed on the stationary section about the aXis of the Wheel, a valve rotatable within the casing, pipes leading from the reservoir to the casing, fiuid-injecting pipes radiating from the casing and penetrating the peripheral wall of the cylinder and directing the motor fluid at an angle to the tangent of the outer circle of the cylinder and toward the axis of the Wheel, a series of cXhaust-passages leading from the cylinder and Opening at a point interior to the circle described by the blades, bufier-wings at the end of the eXhaust-passages,and suitable ports 'formed in the Valve for establishing communication with the fiuid-injecting pipes, substantially as set forth.

4:. In a horseless carriage, a fluid-pressure motor comprising a rotatable bladed section or piston carried by the Wheel, and a stationary section or cylinder carried by the body of the Vehicle, in combination with a storagereservoir, a series of radially-disposed pipes discharging against the blades at an angle interior to the tangent of the outer circle of the cylinder, and a rotary valve mounted about the axis of the wheel for controlling the admission of the motor fluid to said pipes, substantially as set forth.

5. In a horseless carriage, a rotary piston coupled to the Wheel of the carriage, a stationary cylinder carried by the body of the Vehicle. a valVe-casing formed with the cylinder and surrounding the aXis of the wheel, a rotary disk Valve mounted within the casing and provided with an annular groove, feedpipes leading to saidgroove through the casing to a suitable source of fluid-supply, a series of radiating pipes leading from the casing into the cylinder, and recesses or ports formed in the ValVe and leading from the groove thereof for establishing communication between said groove and the radiating pipes a't'oresaid, substantially as set forth.

6. In a hrseless carriage, a rotary piston coupled to the Wheel and carrying blades, a cylinder provided with an annular chamber traversed by said blades` a series of pockets for-med in the walls of the cylinder and Spanning the spaces formed between three or more blades, and fluid-injecting pipes penetrating the walls of the pockets and directing the current inwardly against the blades, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof Iaffix my signaturein presence of two witnesses.

PAUL FLUCKS. Witnesses:

EMIL STAREK, G. L. BELFRY. 

